IFR Magazine

When I first started flying, the concept of altitude was confusing. For pilots the reference, of course, is this thing called mean sea level. But all I was interested in at first was my height above the ground-a measurement with some substance that made sense to me.

One of my cherished childhood memories is of my mother making a birthday cake to celebrate my special day. Rich, sweet aromas filled the house with wonderful anticipation. My favorite yellow cake with chocolate frosting was featured the evening of my 12th birthday. After festivities and dinner, I sat at the head of the table with the lights dimmed as a two-layered masterpiece approached, accompanied by the birthday song and sparkling candles.

Twenty years ago, the idea of carrying sophisticated digital radar in anything under a medium twin would probably have been met with roars of laughter, but technology has brought amazing advances. Now its possible for even an ultralight pilot to use the Internet to access essentially the same tools that are available to forecasters.

Remember when Garmin first came out with their GNS 430? What a wonderful list of features it had. But, even after a few years in service, it turned out that many pilots were intimidated by the sophisticated routing capability and few ventured beyond using direct-to for navigation.

Although it hasnt released the final report to the public, the FAAs unleaded avgas transition rulemaking committee (UAT-ARC) will recommend a fuel-approvals process stretching out as long as 11 years and will be asking Congress for at least $60 million to fund the project, plus as much as $13 million from the industry. The snowball is starting to turn down the hill, said Lycoming General Manager Michael Kraft What it does is to give anyone…

A Senate Appropriations Committee report says Aeronav should immediately restore the 17-day advance availability of digital charts to the public on its website, and further demands to see a business case supporting Aeronavs claims that it needs to charge fees for digital charts. Sales of paper products have fallen but the FAA should not view the sale of digital products simply as a convenient source of revenue to compensate for the loss of revenue, the…

The FAA will discontinue the paper application for FAA medical certification. After Oct. 1, 2012, you must use FAA Form 8500-8 application, otherwise known as FAA MedXpress. That virtual form was introduced in 2007 and has evolved considerably, streamlining FAA medical certification into a much more efficient and seamless process, says the FAA. More than 400,000 pilots fill out one of these forms each year, so its understandable a digital system might save a few…

The FCC will indefinitely suspend LightSquareds authority to carry terrestrial broadband signals on frequencies close to GPS frequencies after receiving a report that concludes the two systems cannot currently coexist. A year of testing demonstrated serious and widespread interference according to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration. LightSquared says it profoundly disagrees with the findings, which will effectively cancel its plans for a $14 billion high-speed wireless system. However, there may be room in the…

The White House responded to a 8500-signature petition titled Take Aviation User Fees off the Table with a treatise called Why We Need Aviation User Fees. It concludes that a $100 per flight user fee is an equitable way for those who benefit to bear the cost of this essential service and is signed by OMB associate director Dana Hyde. Hyde has twice called for all users to pay or do their fair share. The…

The FAA plans to reduce the number of VOR facilities to a minimal operational network by 2020. A minimum network would be enough that an aircraft anywhere in the continental U.S. would have no more than 100 miles to go via VOR to some GPS-independent approach. The FAA is accepting comments on its proposed policy until March 7.…